Gods and Men: Prelude
by Blackhound18
Summary: Gods and Men and everything in between. Two mortals fight against the nature of their world. What will become of the world of Terra?


Sins of a Forest Empire:

From Fear through the eyes of Madness

"Monday"

Lying on the forest floor the sounds of metallic feet stomping against the floor are the only sound I hear against the ambiance of the great forest. A small trodden pathway walked by many feet lies between me and my mate. Her emerald scales blend in perfectly with the dark green brush that conceals us. She brandishes her tale in excitement for the incoming prey. There are two humans, one reeks of testosterone while the other has the scent vanilla. I continue to wait patiently until the humans come into view; the first is a tall muscular male who carries the scent of testosterone. His strides are strong and confident and his skin has the glint of tempered steel. The vanilla comes from the female, shorter yet at the same time more intense. A part of me wishes to call of the hunt but the pride's hunger has gone unanswered for far too long. I release a mighty scream that draws the attention of our prey and we begin our assault.

When the two turn their back to my mate she leaps from her hiding place and attacks the female. The two roll around on the forest path while the rest of my brothers race to continue our kill. The male throws himself into the feeding frenzy and uses a massive blade to dissuade us from feeding on the female's body. We have lost the element of surprise now; our prey is now prepared for us. I want to order a retreat, but the raving hunger drives me insane and I charge again. I open my maw an then I am blinded by a ferocious light.

Ringing sound in my skull. I trip over me own feet. I am splashed with something wet. My vision begins to come back to me. Bodies are dead around me. I struggle to get up, my hind legs shake in weakness. I see the male hunter is locked in combat with my mate. She lunged at her attacker ferociously causing him to be forced backwards. He simply retreated from her attacks effortlessly whilst being pushed into the forest foliage. I charge into the forest with her to help her when I see the blood. Her body lays lifeless on the floor. In the split seconds she was not in my vision the human ender her life. My blood rushed through my body and I charge towards the male human. He stands idle as I prepare for my kill. A sharp pain runs throughout my body… I collapse.

Issac-

The Velociraptor collapses in front of me, the pack of these predators ambushed Ayanna and I during our journey through the forest. At first we were caught by surprise by these pack hunters. But once we regained our bearing Ayanna thoughtfully used a flash-bang to help us thin out the herd. Now that the danger has subsided we continued our trek through the forest of the Beige. The dense forest foliage cased a grand shadow over the pathway. My body begins to return to a state of calm and I wipe the gore from my sword. Ayanna takes out her carving knife and begins to skin the corpses of our recent kills. The two of us are hunters, specialist trained in survival out here in the Beige. We are tasked with various tasks out here, from capturing an escaped criminal to hunting a dangerous monster even gathering supplies for a merchant. Not many people are cut out for this way of life. Having been raised out in this forest nation that lay between Gehenna and Elysium it was either this or farming.

"Wily little heelers weren't they," Ayanna commented as she skinned the largest of the deceased pack.

"Just an annoying distraction" I said to her.

"You are not going to join in the fun," she chuckled. I gave her my 'let's get going' look, "okay then Mr. Frowny Fangs." With another extended glance Ayanna picked up her gear and continued with me to our goal. Two weeks ago we were approached by the Council of Elysium to attempt to capture a Colonel Tolbin, one of the many leaders of the bandit clans of Gehenna. A ruthless leader and a cunning strategist, Tolbin and his group of Mercenaries have been harassing the outskirt provinces in Elysium while avoiding the various Valkyrie units sent to apprehend. After a public outcry to capture him the council released a bounty on his head. One-million gold is a lot of money for one guy, and with that I was coerced into hunting a homicidal maniac.

"Yo Iz look at the ground," Ayanna said. When I looked at the ground I noticed hundreds of footprints overlapping each other. "Looks like Colonel T have a posse, and another large group is trailing him." She said while picking up the dirt to check its age.

"Dirt is fresh; we are 30 minutes behind them." I said to her.

"Anything else you wanna tell me o'Master Tracker" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, the first group was towing a lot of equipment ammo, food, tents, etc. Second group was traveling lighter but better equipped. And the second group is smaller in number than the first." I said to her.

"Want to make me sound any stupider Isaac?" she said to me. Silence. "Oh, now you wanna be all quite. Let's get moving, we are going to have to move fast to catch up to them."

Our leisurely trek now had purpose, after two weeks of searching we were close to our prey. Good news is that we were close. Bad news is there is some competition. As the tracks became fresher the ambiance of the forest grew quieter. And then there was silence. As I opened my mouth to speak...

"Why in the Goddesses' name is it so frackin quite!" Ayanna yelled. I threw myself at her into the brush to hide ourselves. Amidst various obscenities Ayanna asked me why I had tackled her.

I put my finger to lips and told her to listen to the surroundings. After she calmed down I moved my hands and allowed her to listen to what was around us. Several men clad in various types of armor stalked the area.

"I KNOW I heard someone this time" one of them said in a fairly soft voice.

"Pipe down and keep your eyes and ears open, the Colonel ordered us to scout the flanks. And if you and your idiocy gets up caught I am not getting flogged with you." The largest of the group said. Ayanna tapped me, when I looked at her I understood exactly what she wanted to do. She suggested we killed the group to make things easier for us. I silently disagreed with her and argued that if we killed them we would have to hide bodies and that would take away time from finding our bounty.

The ringing of cannon shot rang throughout the forest. The screams of men could be heard and the sound of a virgin battle beginning called the patrol to run to aid their eyes.

I looked towards Ayanna to see the same puzzled that was surely on my face. A round crashed to the ground to our left and we both decided to move from our position to figure out what was going on. We both sprinted to the source of the disturbance to come to a depression filled with many warriors. To one side the artillery we heard was bombarding the battlefield. On the other seemed to be a campsite for a battalion. Telling from the amount of tents and the number of men fighting I could tell that there should be a lot more combatants then what there is in view.

Brilliant.

A rustle of leaves from behind us. Five men clad in light armor leaped from the darkness. I quickly threw my carving knife from my hip and threw it to the first enemy I could manage. The next one tacked me to the ground while attempting to stab me with the knife in his hands. The I tossed the weakling effortlessly into a tree and recovered while drawing me weapon. His ally proceeded to try and kill me was well but his pathetic attempt was ended with a simple swipe of my blade. As the crimson begins to fall from his body another one of the fools threw himself at me. I grabbed his throat and squeezed, his eyes were open in amazement as the life ebbed from his body. The first weakling the attacked me stood in fear as he saw his tow friends dead on the ground.

"You should run now" I said. Having dealt with the two that attacked her as well. Before he got the chance to run a large harpoon pinned him to the tree he was backed against. Ayanna was covered in blood and as well. I could tell she easily eliminated her assailants as well.

"They thought we were with the other hunters" I said.

"Weaklings! Not a challenge at all." Ayanna said. I looked towards the battle and saw what had just happened. The mosh pit of warriors were now encircled and being massacred by the rouges who were waiting in the wings. This entire thing was a trap for the hunters. Colonel Tolbin sacrificed the lives of his warriors to bring out the force of hunters who were stalking him. A normal leader would not do this but this Colonel had no such reservations, in a brilliantly executed gambit the hunters were lured and encircled by Tolbin's forces.

And then it stopped. The hunters were now surrounded by a superior force. This rag tag group of opportunist stood at the mercy of Tolbin. Nothing other than the thought of monetary benefit held this group together.

"Isaac why you think they stopped fighting?" Ayanna asked me.

"He is coming" I said. As if on a dozen riders atop crimson Wyvern descended from the sky. One of the riders wore jet black armor, smooth and elegant to show his status, it was encrusted with jewels of mythical origin."We should get closer" I said to her.

As quietly as possible we slinked within earshot of this foray.

"… Your lives will be spared" was as much as I caught from Colonel Tolbin.

"NO!" a great voice said. From the group of hunters a living legend emerged. Now I understood why this massive number of hunters agreed to work together. Only one has enough gall to lead this charge and there he stood. Uriel the Wise. "I Uriel, under the mandate of the Council of Elysium hereby arrest you, Colonel Marcus Tolbin, for one-thousand and twenty four counts of homicide, four-hundred and fifty counts of arson, thirty four counts of resisting arrest, twenty-two counts of vandalism, three counts of littering, and one major count of being a deuce bag! Now you either come quietly or I will have the wonderful pleasure of running you through"

"You really are not as wise as I once believed are you Uriel" Tolbin said. "Before I kill you and the rest of the imbeciles that accompanied you are there any last words you want to say?"

"Yes I think there are" Uriel said, he looked up towards the sky. "ATTACK!"

Flames from the sky crashed down as several dozen beast-riders plunged from the sky to combat Tolbin's group of riders. Very smart. Uriel counted on the fact that Tolbin would want to do the typical 'homicidal maniac' bit and boast of his victory. Using that to his advantage he planned for his riders to come into the foray until after Tolbin showed himself. As I admired the wonderful strategies of these two men I realized that if Uriel kills Tolbin, me and Ayanna do not get paid.

"Ayanna… we need a plan" I said. Nothing. I looked around and did not see her. "Ayanna?"

Ayanna –

While those idiots are talking I am going to get into a better position. I am NOT going to let my bounty get away because Isaac wants to watch people stab themselves. He can watch them all he wants, and when I get that homicidal freak's head I'm going to rub it into his face. Then he will be all like 'Oh Ayanna how I have misjudged you' and I will be all like 'Heck yea! Rub my feet punk'.

I am usually a patient person, and I am not going to wait around for the men to blow smoke up each other's butts. I am going to find a nice good spot to place one good harpoon straight through this man's chest.

I hear the sound of Uriel emerging from the crowd of sword swingers asking Tolbin to surrender. Stupid man, if it was me I would have stabbed first ask questions later. That is something I will never understand about men. If the used the rest of their muscles as much as they used the ones in their jaws they would be a lot stronger. Maybe that is why Isaac is so strong, seeing as the only reason he opens his mouth his to insult me or tell me to do something. Yet I love the idiot. Hmph.

Ohh! I found it, a perfect spot to take my shot. I set up my tripod and began to align the shot of the century. Factoring winds speed, gravity, and my luck I took aim at the great target of Tolbin's chest. My custom made sniper arrow carefully loaded into the chamber of my trusty bowgun.

And then the unthinkable happens. Beast-riders start dive-bombing out the sky throwing off my shot! How dare they I thought to myself. I hiked all the way up this hill for a sniping spot just for those testosterone junkies to mess it up. I am not going to not get my kill. That aint happening.

I toss away my weapon and anything that would slow me down. I then sprint into the fray, keeping my eyes trained on the Wyvern of Colonel Tolbin. I reached into my bag of Goodies and pulled out a grappling hook. With perfect timing I threw it into the air and latched onto the wing of his Wyvern. The flapping of its wings and the wind fought against my ascend but I am determined to kill this S.O.B. After minutes of struggling I reach the back of the Wyvern. The flames of another Wyvern engulf Tolbin but it does not seem to affect him nor the beast. I see the jewels of his armor glowing. Enchantments. I reach into my utility belt and pull a throwing knife out. With my bounty unaware I throw the knife, an invisible field stops it before it reaches him. He turns and looks at me…

"What the…" He says in amazement.

"RAAAAAA!" I scream and tackle him from his flying beast.

"WOMAN YOU ARE INSANE!" He says while trying to push me away from him.

"SHUT UP AND DIE!" I say trying to strangle him. Before we hit the ground I plant my feet in his chest and used his body to break my fall. Surprisingly the collision with the ground was not as traumatic as I thought. It must be the enchantments in his armor. I grab my knife and try to stab him but he beats me away effortlessly.

Pain. Lots of it. Everywhere. Man this freak is strong. I got up to my feet holding my dagger, I am going to kill this guy or die trying. He draws his sword and charges me. I leap forward rolling into his attack midair and slash the rear portion of his armor. I duck and roll to dodge the sword swipe I knew was coming. He attacks again, this time more refined, his attacks are slow and easily evaded. I jump over his arm and cut at his triceps forcing him to drop his sword. Once my feet hit the ground I jump at him to take a stab at his throat. He dodges my attack and manages to pick up his weapon again. I look at the cut I just gave him and I see it healing right before my eyes. I hate magic. Thinking… thinking… thinking…, my brain rushes through hundreds of strategies as this brute tries to run me through. Idea!

Just need to put it into action. Now that his fearless leader is on the ground Tobin's forces come to his aid. This is getting complicated I thought to myself. I am beginning to be outnumbered by a bunch of murderous bandits and their even crazier leader who has magic 'make me annoying to kill' armor. If I could just get to my bowgun this would be easier.

"OUT OF MY WAY" Isaac yells while holding the body of a deceased mercenary. When enraged he is a sight to see. Standing at around seven feet tall and three hundred pounds of muscle he is barley human. His weapon of choice is a weapon as large as he is, an 8 foot long greatsword. His bronze skin is a perfect contrast to his jet black hair. His green eyes shimmer in the setting sunlight. Stance fierce and dressed to kill. If he wasn't so dense… nevermind.

"WHY IN THE GODESSES NAME ARE YOU DOING!" He bellows at me.

"KILLING THIS GUY! WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE" I yell back.

"LIKE YOU WERE FALLING FROM THE SKY AND ENDED UP GETTING SURROUNDED!" He screams back. Tolbin makes a move towards me…

"Run…" Isaac orders. He charges Tolbin with full strength only to be stopped by the freaks sword. Their blades lock and Isaac pushes him back. With his left hand Isaac grabs Tolbin by the throat and throws him into the horde of soldiers that decided charged Isaac. Tolbin recovers and returns to exchange blows with Isaac. While Isaac is far more skilled than Tolbin, that freak has magic on his side.

Then I remembered my plan. I did not have time to explain it to Isaac I just hope he use his samurai mind reading powers of his and figure out what I am going to do. I deftly weaved my way through the warring mob to where I dropped my weapon. Oh how I missed you, I thought. Instead of kissing her, I took my bowgun and made my back to the fight between Isaac and Tolbin. Luckily I did not have to travel very far. The two of them had made their way closer to my position. Now Uriel was fighting alongside Isaac in an attempt to kill Tolbin. Now Tolbin looked different. He had shadows flying all around him… magic. Pfft. I took a flaming arrow from my satchel and loaded it.

"Hey yo Colonel freak show!" I yelled to gain the three combatants attention. "How much you wanna bet your armor can't multitask!" With that I pulled the trigger and sent my arrow flying. Apparently Isaac understood what my plan was and readied his blade. Once my arrow hit that damned shield of his Isaac rushed inside of his guard and proceeded to cut his head off. And oh what a wonderful head it was.

I may sound demented when I say this but… the moments in which his head sailed through the air on its final journey to the ground I heard music. Instead of blood I saw gold coins flying from his neck. New outfits, a pet dog named precious, and all that chocolate a girl could ever want. His head rolled around and came to a stop. An eerie silence fell on the field of battle. And then the unthinkable happened. The body of Colonel Tolbin sprouted wings of shadows, his head's eyes looked at me and his mouth opened and released a nightmarish screech. The skies blackened.

"You humans are quite resourceful," The head of Tolbin said while the body of Tolbin picked it up. "In all my millennia on this planet have I ever been defeated in combat. I have been poisoned, drowned, shot by a firing squad, but never EVER combat." The jewels on the armor of Colonel Tolbin fall off and he removes his damaged chest piece. All over his body are tattoos of a black dragon burning various civilizations. "Throughout your history your species has shown tenacity. You have faced destruction and managed to avoid it many a time. But this will be different. You have encroached on the land of the beast and now endanger the well being of every other being on this planet. I will stop your pathetic race before it has a chance to do any more damage."

The earth began to shake. The tattoos on Tolbin's body projected darkness, and it engulfed him. The hundreds of creatures of the forest emerged and began to attack. From raptors to chimera to Fairies came upon us to feast.

"Isaac!" I cried out. Covering my head looking for my friend.

"I am here Aya" he says as he wraps his arms around me. "I won't let them hurt you."

Bahamut –

In the beginning there was one. Her name is too great to be spoken of in any language. The humans call her Godess, to me she is mother. Her wisdom and power knows no bounds. She is the creator. In her boredom she created the universe, and with the creation of the universe time was created. And time manifested itself as my older brother, Tiamat. Along with Mother he flew the skies of all and watched her creations grow. But her creation lacked something. Tiamat asked her to create life, and that was when I was born. Bahamut, guardian of life. And then there was peace. The creatures she created enjoyed what was given to them, but one group was not. The endless is what we called them. They are now known as elves. They were immortal, like all things in this time. But they were given knowledge. It was not long until that knowledge caused hatred and jealousy. And with that jealousy came murder, a creation not of my Mother. But like with all things it must have a guardian, Beelzebub. And with him came corruption to her world. Disgraced Mother left this world to its own devices. Gone. But before she left she created a race that would bring an end up Beelzebub and his ambition. And when they did she would return. That species was humans.

With mother gone Tiamat roams her worlds leaving me to rival my brother. In honesty this task is simple. Despite his best efforts, the creatures of this world resist his influence. And humanity regularly quells his schemes. Never have I had to interfere with the affairs of humans.

On this world I am the King of the Beast. I fly the skies as a legend guarding the well being of all that live here. Every creature recognizes who I am and there is a relative peace. Today I was sleeping atop a mountain when I heard the sounds of another human battle raging. I dismiss it easily and continue to lounge about. But I feel something, a darkness creeping up from the earth. A corruption I have never felt this openly before. I knew who it was, my brother influencing the humans again. But this time he is not concealing his presence. He is showing his true form. In this form he will surely destroy everything on this planet. I must stop him.

I take to the skies and fly towards the disturbance. The clear blue skies around me push away the darkness. As I fly I breathe life back into the ground below. I see the shadows of my brother engulfing the land has he turns into his true dragon form. He knows I am hear. I see him in his true form. As black as the darkest nights, with two horns scarred from the many battles he has been in. His scales shimmered in a slight shade of crimson. Claws stained with the blood of the innocent and a maw designed for the reaping of souls. His claws were sharpened for his demonic purpose. He has grown to rival my size since the last time I have seen him. Standing the size of a small mountain he dwarfed all other creatures around him. His eyes were a murderous red and his intent of extinction of humanity was made clear.

Hello brother, he calls to me. Our minds linked. Are you hear to witness the punishment of the human race.

The humans have done nothing brother, you know this is not how things work I say to him while circling the skies above.

It is the humans that are the issue, they are destroying the precious land that you care so much about, and they are putting the lives of everything else in danger.

Balance will be restored brother, it always does I say again.

When? Before or after the extinction of all other species. I am not arguing with you over this brother. He roars and the beast of the forest attack. I look in horror as the very creatures I have given life to aid in ending hundreds of lives of humans.

"STOP!" I yell while I crash down upon this field of battle. All eyes are upon me. I look at the eyes of my brother, "This ends now!"

"Now you wish to speak brother." He says, " Beast of the forest hear me! My brother who has ruled over you for all of your lives refuses to help you. The humans encroach on your homes and he ask that you do nothing! I say nay my brethren! Turn away from your bonds to him, embrace me and I will lead you against these pathetic humans and we will take back what is rightfully ours. We will kill all humans and any beast that has allied themselves with them."

"WE ARE RIGHT HERE!" a small voice yells. A young human female with long auburn hair looked up at us with a fierceness unseen in their species. My brother and I look down to see the human wielding one of those human weapons. "EAT 100cc's OF CYCLOTRIMETHYLENE TRINITRAMINE YOU GIANT SCALY FREAKS OF NATURE! DIEEE!"

Beelzebub –

A grand explosion forces me backwards. I lay on my back in amazement. That foolish human has caused me pain. That woman will die slowly. My brother was forced back as well. His scales shimmered as the bluest of oceans. His horns were golden and glistened in the rising moonlight. He embodied benevolence, and his power seeped from his very pores. As a being of this world I had to fight to bend from his will, an ever present force that is as normal as my heartbeat. I have long refused to be second to that pompous weakling and everything he stands for. I release a mighty roar to call all those that stand beside me to my aid. The creatures of the forest continued the attack on the humans, with each death I grew stronger and my willpower grew. I represent the corruption of this world, and I feed on it. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, despair, wrath, envy, and pride; for as long as these exist in the world I will continue to exist. This pit of destruction beneath me feeds my power, the anger and despair of the humans along with the wrath of the beast causes my power to increase.

My brother lowers his body on all four of his mighty legs and releases a roar that shakes the earth. All in the vicinity shake, my deepest instinct tells me to flee, but I have worked far too hard to allow this to end. I rear up and release a mighty bellow, buffing my thralls encouraging them to stand strong. Our eyes locks, the emerald of his eyes are full of fury.

He charges at me, the full force of his body thrust me into the air. He is far more powerful than I could have ever anticipated, but his power will mean nothing soon. My claws rip into his face and I kick with all my might forcing him away. I outstretch my wings to gain my balance but Bahamut charges again with amazing speed. There was no way for me to know how powerful he would be. I bite down upon his wing and try to destabilize him. He screams in pain, I slash at his exposed ribcage without releasing my grip. He slams his head into my neck and I lose some of my grip, he plants his feet and gains some distance. He may be more powerful than I but he lacks the eons of experience I have earned from my constant battling on this world.

If one were an onlooker to this battle it would be an awe filled sight. Two dragons locked in combat, the very earth shaking from the force of the battle. It is poetic really, in these measly creatures existence they battle against death constantly. But now this battle has a physical manifestation. At this moment we are both in our mortal forms, our powers I limited by the rules that our Mother created. Even if our 'bodies' were to perish we would simply need to find a new host worthy to be born again. As our ethereal selves we cannot directly affect the world, but as mortals we may do as we choose.

I have a plan for this world, and the only thing in my way is my brother. I have waited Eons for my turn, and nothing will stop me now.

Ayanna –

Shoot. Roll. Duck. Flip. Shoot. Reload. Stab. Step. There are so many beast out for our throats it is ridiculous. You know fairies right? The little tinker bell looking things? Well when I first became a hunter and was asked to kill a hive of fairies I was so puzzled. Until I saw them. Forget what you know about them, it is a lie. They are not cute, they are not helpful, and that is not fairy dust coming from their wings. They are closer to a hive of bee's then anything, with four rows of razor sharp teeth and a knack for calling you the worst of names, these creatures are a mere annoyance. About the size of a canteen and flying with those fly like wings it takes little more than a bat of the hand to take one out. But in a group… it gets ugly.

I holster my bowgun and pull out my knives, taking a swing a anything within my arms reach. I hear the roar of a minotaur and jump out the way of the man-bulls charge. Lucky me rolls straight into the tail of a pissed off giant gorilla. It raises its fist to crush me…

"I told you…" Isaac says while blocking the blow with his blade (whoa that's a lot of B's), "I won't let them hurt you" I don't know how he does it… but even in the middle of a fight he is so… ergh!

"Thanks Iz I can take care of myself" I say stubbornly. Heat. We both jump out of the way. Where we once stood fires now scorched the earth. A green cockatrice (half dragon half rooster for those who don't know) stood at the ready for us both. They are not as strong as most wyvern but they are fast and annoyingly smart.

"Lets set 'em up for the one-two" I say while pulling out my bowgun. With a nod Isaac charges the beast, it raises its hind leg to dodge his attack and quickly jabs at him. Isaac rolls to the front of the beast and launches himself into its abdomen. The beast takes a step back in recoil and readies its flame breath. I pull the trigger and one swivel shot wraps around the very exposed neck of the cockatrice. Isaac leaps at the neck of the beast and brings it down to our level. Then with a swift swing of his blade he decapitates the poor bastara.

"We need to get out of this mosh pit" I suggest.

"Agreed". Isaac replies wiping the gore from his sword.

He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the denser part of the forest. Above us the two dragons I had the amazing wisdom to shoot at were doing battle in the skies above us. The black dragon seemed to be the more experienced of the two but he was slower and weaker then the blue and gold one. This is not the first time I have seen a dragon, but it is the first time I have seen two dragons fighting. I know that dragons are just as intelligent, if not more so than humans. I also know they live for an extremely long time and have the wrath equivalent to one of the great nations. I don't know who pissed on whose mountain but it is not going to end well for us humans. We need to take these things out.

I slow down to a jog and turn towards Isaac "We need to take one of these Dragons down Isaac or this is going to get really bad for we humans"

"And what do you plan Aya, " He says to me, " To get launched by a catapult or fly on a wyvern to get up to one of them and kill it up there." Even when he is sarcastic he gives great ideas. "No… NO! You are not doing that."

"I love you" I say and sprint off towards the battle. I hear him behind me, under normal circumstances he would easily catch up to me. But I am relatively unharmed while he is injured and in full armor. Even then he manages to keep up. I turn around to tell him to stop and run when something lands in front of me. A giant Wyvern with platinum scales stands in my way. It has many deep scars from battle and eyes that are a piercing blue. It releases a roar that is rivaled only by the bellow of the dragons above us.

I have been hunting for six years, I have fought Trolls, packs of kobolds, a lava wraith, even a full-fledged demon. In the face of all of these things I have never frozen in fear. I had no idea what I was like, looking at something that is about to end you. Knowing that the end is near, I have lived a full life. Daughter of one of the council of Elysium's Minister of War I was raised sheltered and away from the world. I was taught how to fight and how to lead. I believed myself to be his heir, until I met Isaac.

It was eight years ago, I was sixteen and proud. A rampaging, chimera ravaged through the outskirt villages of Elysium. I believed myself to be strong enough to eliminate it. I traveled to the town where it was reported going to. I was ready for it, I was arrogant. It was the first time I had seen a monster. I did not know how un-imaginably powerful they were. I fought as hard as I could but only amounted to a minor annoyance when compared to this ancient beast. It reared its head and I could see the flames on its throat igniting and I knew I would soon be torched alive. I closed my eyes and waited for the fiery sensation. I waited and waited but nothing happened. I opened my eyes to notice myself covered in the shadow of a giant sword.

"Run!" were the first words Isaac said to me. And that I did, ran.

And now here I am, in the same situation watching the flames ignite in the creatures massive jaws. In a blur I see him, sword at his stead and ready to defend me, like he always has. The Wyvern releases its attack but Isaac and his blade block the attack.

"I will hold this thing off run Aya, RUN!" He yells at me.

I turn to run, having a renewed motivation. I turn to see the Silver Wyvern and Isaac circling each other ready to fight. I knew I had to keep moving or this madness would never end.

Isaac –

Focus. I have to focus, I think to myself. I look into the eyes of the Fuijin Wyvern. His species are the lords of the skies whose scales shift and color and harden as they get older. As youth they are red, this is the color most would associate with them. Then they turn a deep blue color, showing to the world their experience and strength. I have slain my share of both of these Wyverns. But I have only heard rumors of the silver scales. They are told to me as wise as the oldest dragon and scales harder than any steel. Faster than any falcon and stronger than an angry Cyclops. What is worse is the level of experience they have in battle. Luckily for hunters they tend to keep to themselves, but now I am face-to-face with one. I could see it's many scars from battle. Normally I would not fight this beast but I had to protect Ayanna, for all of humanitys sake it seemed.

I moved slowly to my left as to gain a better position to attack while the Wyvern moved to my right. He lunges his head at me and I jump to my right only to be met by a gust of wind from the monsters wing. The wind knocks me off my feet, I place my sword on my chest as the Fuijin placed its massive legs on top of my body to crush me. As I struggled to keep myself from suffocating I pulled my knife from my breastplate and stabbed the beast in the foot. It lifted its foot in pain and I roll to safety. While the beast is dazed I slash the other leg. A part of me is surprised by how little my blade damaged its hide. I retreaded to a safe distance and slowed my breath. This was going to be a tough battle.

The scorching flames from the maw of the Fuijin Wyvern engulfed me. I forced myself through the fire and flames and launched my body into the beast's lower jaws. I then cut into its unprotected neck and the beast retreats into the air above me. The force of the winds that his wings kicked up pushed me into the ground. I knew that it is a kill or be killed and I could not let up. I sprinted towards the beast to keep it in my sights. Then I realized where it was going to… Ayanna ran in this direction. I could not let this thing stop her or we would all be doomed. The adrenaline in my body pushed me past my limits and I began to move faster than I ever have before. In the distance I could see her readying her bowgun to take a shot at the dueling dragons. In the air the Fuijin sees her. I call out her name as I continue to run at my top speed. She looks towards me and a look of confusion appears on her face. It is now a race. I try and warn her, tell what is about to happening but the sound of combat muffles my attempts. I need to move faster!

I feel a tug in my stomach and I reach deep inside myself and throw myself at the diving wyvern. I jumped. In a blink of an eye the distance between me and the monster was closed and I was now above it. I swing the blunt side of my blade and it crashes into the ground. I look down at my body and I am giving off a blue hue. What is this I am feeling I think to myself. I land on the ground and the hue fades and I feel renewed.

"How in goddesses name did you catch up to me Isaac?" Ayanna says to me.

"I don't know bur'cya," I said to her, reverting to my native language.

"Well now that you are here can you help me" She says.

"Well what is the plan?" I ask her

Bahamut –

I should not be surprised by how well my brother is fairing against me. He may be slower and weaker than I but from the hundreds of thousands of years of combat he has a distinct advantage of experience. I can only imagine how many elder dragons he has faced in his ambition. But I am learning fast, and it will not be long before I will have him pay for his actions. I charge at him again but he dodges but this time I expected this motion and I swing my tail to hit him as he moved out of the way of my previous attack. I release my flames and torch his hide and he falls a before recovering his bearings. As his head comes up he releases several fireballs in my direction. I dodge the first few but they were a ploy for the second barrage. I know that I need to end this fight else the humans will not stand a chance.

One of my innate abilities is something called the Will of the King. It is a pressure that affects all wild creatures and makes them want to listen to me. Now my brother is resisting this pressure but he I can force it upon him and any other being in the vicinity. I concentrate and call upon this primeval force and push it out of my body. I can feel the life energies of all the creatures in the warring forest below. The ancient trees to the youngest of ants, and even the mighty Fuijin Wyvern to…

There is an anomaly in the forest. It is a power that is lying dormant; it isn't focused on a creature in particular but a group. It is a force that surprises even me. It is contained and controlled and suppressed, I feel that it needs to be released. My curiosity gets the best of me. I release this force from it's bonds. An inspiring feeling overwhelms me, and then there is silence.

"What did you do brother?" Beelzebub says to me, obviously feeling this power.

"I do not know," I say calmly, but we will soon find out.

I feel something sting my hind leg and I look down to see a small wire wrapped around me. It seems to have some elastic properties. I tug my leg then hear the faint familiar voice of a human female.

The tug of my leg gives her the force to make her way to my back. She believes me to be the evil one. I cannot blame her, the humans do not have a good memory of elder dragons. I try and contact her mind and I feel rage and a twinge of... hope. She has strong feelings for another human, and she believes that my death will save the rest of her species.

"You do not know what you are doing human" I say to her.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD! AND DIEEE!" her mind yells. As much as I admired her stubbornness I had no time to argue with the woman. I press my mind against her and I can feel her willpower waver.

"Listen human, I am not the one you should be trying to defeat," I say to her.

"I would beg to disagree, I could care less who is good or evil right now. If I kill you then big blackie over there gets what he wants and me and my friend and kill him later. If I was to kill him then you would be free to do as you wish and dragons plus humanity never ends well." Foolish human thinks me to be another rampaging dragon.

"Your scope of the situation is laughable." I say to her.

"What are you waiting for Bahamut" my brother says to me interrupting my conversation with the human. "I have still breathing" I needed to do something fast. If I continued this in the air I would surely meet my end by the human making her way up to my neck.

How stupid of me!

I folded my wings into my back and began to fall to the ground. I taped into the energies that sustained my immortality and folded my essence into a new form, that of a human. The human female on my back falls safely to the ground as I begin to take shape. My scales become skin and my wings fold into my back. My horn become hair and my claws turn into hands. I inhale and I feel the scratch of ash in my lungs, how do the humans deal with that at all times.

I look around and I see the carnage that I have only witnessed from miles in the air. Humans and beast fighting. While the humans were weaker then the beast they made up for it in cunning and adaptability. Some of the human fought in groups, relying on tactics to take down an opponent. While others fought alone, using sheer experience to defend themselves. I try and force my pressure to calm those around me… but nothing happened. It seems that I have lost that when I turned into a human.

"Hey noodie booty look out!" A human says to me, referring to my lack of clothing. A sword flies past my head and impales a charging Kobold that was about to run me through.

"Care to explain to me what is going on here Mr. Dragon," He says to me sword at the ready.

"The story for my presence here is a very long and drawn out tail, which I would gladly tell under less peril circumstances." I say to the human. "You may call me Bahamut."

"Uriel, it's a pleasure Mr. Dragon." He says. "With all that magic you got maybe you should poof yourself up a weapon and some armor, more importantly clothe. The whole naked Dragon-Man thing is fairly disturbing."

I call upon my essence and forge myself a suit of armor. A sapphire blue with gold encrusted on the trim. A shield lay on my left arm and a mystical blade in the other.

I look up to see my brother looking down on the field, surely creating some kind of plan. He releases a mighty below and for the first time in all the millennia I have existed I was in awe of someone else's power. Every creature that was attacking the humans stopped and encircled the rag tag group of sentients. I see the female human that attempted to kill me and a large human male walk through the crowd of monsters. Beelzebub descends from the sky and shifts into his human form.

"Tolbin, if that really is your name. Surrender now or we will kill you," Uriel say while pointing his blade at him. "Even after you send every monster to kill us we still stand. Now if you think that killing you will be an issue you are sadly mistaken."

"Uriel how I admire your drive, if only it were not for that water esperit you would be fighting with me now." Beelzebub says to Uriel.

"No need to bring up the past friend, now this is your FINAL warning. Surrender..," Tolbin says as he readies his weapon for a charge. "Or Die."

"Before you send you and your allies to their deaths maybe you should ask your new friend there who he truly is." Beelzebub says. What is he planning?

"Mr. Dragon, I'm going to amuse Tolbin with this question. But who are you exactly." Uriel ask me. I think for a few moments, thinking on what I could say to the human that will not blow their minds.

"There are many answers to your question, I am known by many names and different cultures give me different titles," I begin. "In a planet called earth they called me an Archangel, on another planet they call me Zeus a king of Gods. In another world I am called Odin. Here I lack any of those extravagant titles, to the beast I am the King. To humans I am simply the source of your torment, Bahamut king of the Beast."

Uriel looks at me with a look of disbelief, "You don't look like a bad guy.." he says softly. "If anything Colonel Massacre over there seems to fit the part."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Silence.

"We are hunters, our profession is to keep the population of the monsters of the world under control so that humans can live in peace. Beast constantly attack and destroy our villages and towns. As their leader you are indirectly responsible for all of their actions." Uriel says to me.

Now I can understand the feeling these humans are feeling. They are looking at the source of their torment, the epicenter of all they fight against. I can sense the anger and hatred coming from the crowd.

"I am just another beast, I exist to bring about destruction, I am abliged to kill and destroy. If it were not for him there would be no more destruction of your towns and villages." Beelzebub says.

He is manipulating the situation by playing on the emotions of the humans.

"Do you remember that deal I told to you Uriel?" Beelzebub asks.

"Yes I do Tolbin," Uriel says.

"It still stands, but with one condition. Kill Bahamut, end his life and all of you can go free." He says with a sly smirk.

"I will not argue with him Uriel," I begin. "But killing me will not solve anything, plus I may prove to be more than you can handle."

"As much as I hate Tolbin, if what he is saying is the truth then your life ends here Bahamut." Uriel says and points his blade at me. The other humans in the area follow suit and ready their weapons.

I do not wish to kill any of them, but maybe I can deter them. I close my eyes and tap into the powers that lay deep within me, I release a burst of energy forcing all those in the area backwards, my brother excluded. I use my magic to form to wings and begin to levitate into the air. I brandish my blade and look down upon the now amazed looks of all the humans. "If it is my life you are after than come and take it mortals" I say.

"STOP!" a voice says. The companion to the female human speaks. "This is wrong!"

"Isaac of all the times NOW you choose to speak." The female says.

"I am a hunter, a fight to defend the innocent and bring justice." The human named Isaac says, "Colonel Tolbin, if that is his name at all, is DIRECTLY responsible for the death of thousands. He has personally killed several of us hunters. Now Tolbin says that this guy named Bahamut is the one responsible for his actions and the actions of all the beast of this world. I do not know about you but I have not seen him burn our towns or destroy the villages we are born. I will not speak for you, but I refuse to kill one who has done nothing, I made a pledge to defend the innocent. Now if any of you want to fight ME, my blade and I welcome the challenge."

I look at the face of Isaac and see a determination and drive that inspires even me.

"You would stand with me knowing that I am the source of your struggles" I say.

"Yes." He says. Short simple and to the point.

"Isaac please, do not do this. I do not want to have to kill you," the female says.

"Then fight with me Ayanna," He says to the female.

"I CANT! I am not going to fight with him! He is the reason why my mother is gone" the one called Ayanna screams.

"You do not know that for sure," Isaac says to her.

"You don't know that he is innocent either!" She says to him, loading a shell into her weapon.

"Ayanna… don't make me kill you." Isaac says gripping his blade.

"KILL BAHAMUT AND THE TRAITOR!" Uriel yells. Ayanna releases a shot into the air at me and I dodge it. Several of the hunters converge onto Isaac and he disappear in the mob of swords and armor. I turn to dive and assist him when I see a bodies fly from where Isaac stands. I need to try to not kill any of these hunters maybe that will convince them I am…

Something wraps around my leg and I get pulled to the ground. I shift my weight as I crash to the ground. I raise my shield and block the first strike from a hunters blade. I swing my arm around to counter another attack. I whip my leg around and throw the hunter that snagged me into another one. I duck to dodge a swipe at my head and knock the handle guard of my blade into my attackers abdomen. He doubles over and I grab him by collar and throw him into the closest body I see. I raise my shield and block another attack and quickly counter it. As I continue this dance of dodging and counter-attacking I wonder why the monsters are not attacking as well. I again wonder what the plan of my deceitful brother. While I was caught up in my thoughts I am struck in the back by an arrow and it explodes. This explosion was a mere annoyance to me but it surely would have killed anyone else. I feel a sting in my arm and out of reflex I swing my arm at it. I send a hunter flying into the air by accident.

A hear a familiar battle cry and I look to see Uriel charging me. I raise my blade and block his attack with ease. "Why do you do this?" I ask. He looks up at me with a blank expression and sweeps my feet from underneath me. I swing my blade at his feet and he jumps over it. I use my magic to help me recover. I stand again waiting for his attack but I hear the sound of a blade in the air and I raise my shield to block it. Uriel takes this moment to strike again only to be met by my blade. The two hunters continue to attack me as I easily defend myself while dodging attacks by more of their allies.

I raise my hand and blast the duo with energy and send them flying backwards. I look around to see where Isaac is. He is only human, I could only imagine how he is faring against this horde.

Isaac –

A Uriel yells charge I ready my blade to defend myself, If they send themselves against me they will only meet slaughter. I lean back and dodge the first attack and counter by cleaving the fools leg in two. The next attack I block with my bracers, I grab the arm of my assailant and throw him back to his friends. I hear a click and leap to my left as I bowgun shot races past me. I turn to expect Ayanna but it is just another hunter. I get tackled to the ground by another hunter, I roll with the attack and use his momentum to throw him into the crowd. As much as I hated this I had to keep going. My honor would not let me allow Bahamut to be slain without me doing something to stop it. Now I fight against those who took the same oath as me. Any other person would contemplate this scenario and wonder why they are doing what they are doing. But I have no such emotions, it is very simple. They wish to me end my life, and in order to keep my own head I must remove theirs.

I hear some yell traitor and attack me. I dodge these attacks while I my blade arm stays relaxed. Whoever this guy is he is good, I continue to retreat looking for an opening to counter attack. I do not want to but…

I swing my blade and send the man flying in two distinct pieces.

"That blade is going to slow him down keep attacking!" one of them yell from the crowd.

Fools. If it were not for the helmets they wore I would surely be looking at shocked faces as I blocked their attacks with the massive sword I carried. I leap over an enemy and slit his head in two, another attacks and I break his blade with an upward slash. I hear another click and I switch my grip and swing my blade around to block the bowgun shell that was meant for the back of my head. I hear a footstep to my right and I block the blade that was meant for my neck.

The group of hunters backs away from me and mumble amongst themselves.

"If you don't attack I will." I warn them. I bring my sword over my shoulders and crouch with one arm hanging in front of me.

"TRAITOR" a voice screams as a dagger flies past my head. I turn to see Ayanna charging me, weapons ready. "Why cant you just give in and attack like everybody else!"

"I am my own man Aya you know this." I say as our blades me. With her usual agility she flips over me and cuts at my exposed back. I have seen her do this move many a time but never on me. She hops back and forth before charging through my guard. While midair she rolls and does a kick that sends me a flying into the horde of hunters. I swing my blade in an arc to keep them at bay as Aya charges at me again. She throws a dagger and I block it with ease. It flies into the air and she leaps to catch it and attacks again. I jump to my left and swing my blade at her head. She rolls into my attack and cuts behind me leg. I fall to my knee in pain.

"Please end this Isaac," She says, eyes filled with tears. It was then that I noticed the darkness coming from her mouth. "END IT NOW ISAAC I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU!"

They are being controlled! I feel a familiar feeling wash over my body and I charge Ayanna with blistering speed. Now unconscious I then turn my rage towards Tolbin.

As if on cue I see Uriel fly above me and Bahamut falls from the skies holding the corpse of a hunter. He looks at me with a puzzled look, "I don't know either. Where is Tolbin?" I ask.

Beelzebub –

I continued to concentrate on forcing my corruption. Little did the humans know that they are under my power. And when this is all over I will have their species under my control as well as the beast that fight with me now. I can feel the death of several of the humans. Their death feeds me and I continue my meditation.

I feel a force tap into my mind. It ask me when will they get to continue the attack. Other minds agree but I force them to silence themselves. These primitive minds do not understand the scope of my ambition.

I stood in place and let the humans do the work. As time continued my degree of control tightened and soon I was able to tell them what to do. I ordered a great number of them to kill my brother while I left about a dozen behind to eliminate the human male. I soon located the strongest in these contingent of hunters. One was the female that had hopped onto my brothers back, Ayanna. The other was Uriel, too be expected. I forced Ayanna to attack her friend while I forced Uriel to kill my brother. I smiled with amusement while my human thralls attacked their old allies.

If all of the other sentients gave in to my power why did not the one called Isaac give in as well. I quickly dismissed the thought, I could contemplate later, after I ruled this realm. I felt that Uriel was in conflict with Bahamut, a fairly even fight by my estimates. While that Ayanna girl was trouncing her old friend. How easy it is to corrupt mortals.

Out of nowhere an explosion of pressure comes across the field of battle. Uriel's is unconscious as well as the human female. Damn. I open my eyes in just enough time to see the attack. Isaac, greatsword in hand flies from the skies in an attempt to kill me. I pull my blade from my hip and block his attack. I order the rest of my human thralls to attack Isaac.

"Behind You," he says. I look behind me to see my brother descending from the skies in a dive tackle.

"Release the humans Beelzebub and surrender! You have no idea who you are messing with" Bahamut says to me.

"You think I am scared of you brother! I will kill you then feast on that human friend of yours flesh!" I say.

From behind me I get attacked by Isaac. I am propelled towards my brother who kicks me into the ground. I recover and launch magic at him forcing him towards my thralls. I order all under my power to attack.

Beast and humans attack the two lone fighters. I expected my brother to be the annoying one to kill but I did not take into account how powerful Isaac would be. He aptly destroys all who are in his vicinity. My brother flies high using his speed and magic to best his attackers. Together they prove to be most annoying. No matter, it is only a mere hitch in my plan. Isaac runs towards me, now wielding a two blades, his own and a smaller one he probably picked up from the ground. His first attack knocks me several feet backwards but I mange to stay on my feet. Before I have a chance to counter he continues his assault. With sword and shield I block his attacks.

Who is this mortal! He is not tiring at all! The faster I get the faster he becomes. The stronger I get the more power he pulls from some strange reserve of power. I will not be bested again by this mortal! I go on the offensive now looking for an opening, I sense an attack coming from my flank and I leap backwards to dodge it.

Uriel! He now stands before me untainted weapon at the ready. If he is free from my grasp then…

"Hello sunshine!" I hear before I am pelted with several bowgun shells. "That is what you get for making me fight my best friend!"

"How!" I began.

"Your brother." Isaac says.

"When did you…" I stammered.

"You're welcome," Ayanna says.

"How?" I ask.

"That magical sword of Bahamut's" Uriel says twirling his blade around.

Good. He is using that sword. I turn around and…

Ayanna –

Bahamut impales Colonel Tolbin… I mean Beebub, or Beelzepup, or whatever his name is now. The two look at each other and Bahamut whispers something into BeeBob's ear. All around us darkness leaves the bodies previously under the control of what's-his-face. All the monsters that once stood with him now fled back into the forest. As I calmed myself the fatigue of three hours' worth of combat finally set in. I plopped down on the ground lazily and let out a sigh of relief.

Then the unthinkable happened. Bahamut was grabbed by Beelzbrop as he was dying. The heavens and the earth shook in disdain, thunder crashed down on the earth and the ground shook in rage. I picked myself from the ground and grabbed my gear. I looked to Isaac and Uriel and we both made a silent agreement. Run.

Our trio sprinted into the forest as well as the band if hunters thrown together to hunt Colonel Tolbin… I mean Beelphebub. Uriel, Isaac and I decided to stick together, ducking through the forest of the Beige. I had no idea where we ran to but I don't think any of us did. Something inside me told me to run, and that is what I did.

I do not know how long we ran for. But when we came to a stop I was utterly exhausted. I looked at the other two and realized how horrible we looked. Uriel's armor had many deep cuts as well as dents from being hit by monsters. His blonde hair hung over his exhausted eyes. Isaac's hair hung over his face, sweat dripped down his face, his green eyes normal shine was dampened from his exhaustion. My hair hung over my face and I had several bruises from the battle.

"Anyone up to make a teleportation sigil?" I ask. Isaac and Uriel look at each other for a half second then Uriel and him go off into separate directions. I lay in the grass thinking on what has just happened. I know things are only going to get weirder from here on out.

I hate Mondays.


End file.
